Even as congressional officials made a solemn bipartisan show of unity at the Capitol on Monday for victims of Saturday’s Tucson, Ariz., massacre, they returned to partisan gamesmanship over the need for a legislative response to the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the killing of six others.

The contrast between official events — a moment of silence in the still, cold morning air on the front steps on the east side of the Capitol; a prayer service in the historic Cannon Caucus Room; and the placing of condolence books in a public corridor — and the sideline wrangling over gun control, limitations on speech and the tension between access and security for members of Congress illustrated that lawmakers are still grappling with the appropriate response to the bloodiest attack on a federally elected official in decades.

Freshman Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) warned his colleagues not to engage in “reactionary” legislating after Democrats said over the weekend that they would introduce measures aimed at limiting gun rights, criminalizing certain speech and boosting congressional security budgets.

“The normal instinct, and rightfully so, and it’s a good instinct, is to protect. As a legislator, you protect through legislation. I think that’s healthy. I think that’s normal. I think those intentions are all good. In that regard, I applaud my colleagues,” Grimm, who recently hired a former New York City detective to provide security in his district, said in an interview with POLITICO. “The training tells you, ‘Don’t make rash decisions, especially right after the event.’”

He also suggested colleagues are looking to capitalize on the shootings to further long-held political beliefs — putting him directly at odds with fellow New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat who wants to ban the kind of expanded clips that the accused Arizona gunman used, which increase the capacity to kill.

“Those [who] are opposed to guns and want to regulate guns to begin with may use this to bolster their arguments,” Grimm said. The general feeling on both sides of the gun debate, however, was that while there may be noisy rhetoric, the chances for new legislation are dim — and in fact, the National Rifle Association, thus far, is not even mounting a lobbying push in the wake of the Arizona shootings.

In Phoenix, Ariz., Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in Giffords’s shooting, made his first appearance in federal district court.

Loughner did not enter a plea. He is accused of attempting to assassinate the congresswoman, killing two federal employees and attempting to kill two more federal employees, and will be arraigned Jan. 24. More charges are expected to be filed at the state level.

There were new signs that Giffords is responding to treatment after undergoing emergency brain surgery Saturday. Her chief of staff told lawmakers on a conference call Sunday that Giffords raised her hands in response to a command from her husband, Mark Kelly, and The Associated Press reported that the congresswoman gave a thumbs-up sign Monday and made an effort to remove her own breathing tube — a natural reaction to the discomfort.

On Capitol Hill, and throughout Washington, the horrifying incident continued to cast a pall. Barry Jackson and John Lawrence, chiefs of staff for House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, respectively, organized a public moment of silence on the Capitol steps to coincide with President Barack Obama’s observance at 11 a.m.

Jackson and Lawrence embraced and shook hands as they led a handful of members of Congress and scores of aides in the brief pause from their work.

Religious officials helped lead a prayer service Monday afternoon, mostly for staff, and another service is scheduled Wednesday for members.

Members of the public were invited to sign a pair of books, one expressing condolences for those who were killed and another for recovery wishes to those who survived.

But while the tone of public debate has certainly softened since the shootings and Capitol Hill has united in a sense of grief and shock, deeply felt disagreements quickly resurfaced Sunday and became more pronounced Monday.

Without any indication of the gunman’s true motive, many Democratic lawmakers and liberal political observers sought to draw a causal line between political rhetoric that employs references to weapons or revolutionary action and the rampage.

Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) suggested imposing criminal penalties on people who use language or imagery that could be interpreted as threatening — which would require the threading of the needle between current law and an unconstitutional limitation on expression.

Republicans are pushing back against insinuations that former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s use of cross hairs on a political map in the 2010 midterm elections somehow contributed to the shootings. They note that both parties often use the term “target” to describe congressional seats candidates hope to take from the other party.

One thing is clear: Word usage will play a prominent role in the debate over responses to the shootings.

Some Democrats have taken issue with Republicans’ reference to the new health care law as “job killing” — even though Obama has embraced the term in his portrayal of Republican economic policies.

As for the larger legislative agenda, House Republican leaders, who will bring a resolution honoring victims to the floor Wednesday, are likely to be averse to passing bills in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

“This is a time for the House and all Americans to come together to mourn our losses and pray for those who are recovering, not a time for politics,” said Michael Steel, Boehner’s spokesman.

There was also a focus Monday on security — both in Washington and in home districts — and lawmakers in both parties expressed concern over the potential to reduce access to the people who elect them.

“Part of our job is to listen to our constituents in a whole vast array of forums,” Upton said. “Whether it be town meetings, [so-called] tele-town meetings, service club speeches [or] parades. We virtually go back, at least I do, virtually every weekend, with lots of public events. Whether it’s going to the grocery store [or the] church — people know what we’re up to in the communities that we represent. And I see that very unlikely to change.”

Capitol law enforcement officials told lawmakers Sunday that they can’t get in contact with all House members during emergencies like Saturday’s shooting, because some offices have not provided contact information. The House sergeant at arms was missing contacts for 10 percent of members during the last Congress, he said on the conference call. He encouraged both veterans and rookies alike to make that information available.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly that John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi embraced. They were not in attendance.